Why is everyone so upset with Verizon?? What changed?

[edk35]

We have been Verizon customers for over 10 years. Did the make a major change with their plans? My daughter and I have voyagers and my son a versa. My dh's is a blackberry but his is through his work. We have unlimited texting and can get online too. Can someone tell me what happened?? Thanks

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

They are forcing most of their decent phones to get a data plan, whether you want it or not. At least ten bucks per line each month. People are mad.

 

[edk35]

They are forcing most of their decent phones to get a data plan, whether you want it or not. At least ten bucks per line each month. People are mad.

I need to look and see what we are paying for the three phones I mentioned. I know we pay something extra.

 

[momm2four]

I think its ridiculous to force you to pay for internet/email usage. I also think its asking for trouble. Right now, you can block your kids from using the internet on their phones, but if you must have it on their phone, whats to stop them from going over the limit allowed.

so basically to have a decent phone, youre not paying $10 per line that Verizon has always advertised...now it's more like $20 for the line and the internet fee.

I thought it was crazy that they made me get the $30 package for my blackberry in order to even buy the phone, but now they say that every phone they carry except for about 6 must get an xtra $10 package???? I've always liked Verizon, but don't like this at all.

Lori P.

 

[java]

I was told the reason they are doing this is because there were many people complaining about a $$ they spent on the regular phones.
I think that's bull.
I think we should still have a choice. And if enough people complain they'll bring back the regular phones again. right now our store had 2.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

I think its ridiculous to force you to pay for internet/email usage. I also think its asking for trouble. Right now, you can block your kids from using the internet on their phones, but if you must have it on their phone, whats to stop them from going over the limit allowed.

so basically to have a decent phone, youre not paying $10 per line that Verizon has always advertised...now it's more like $20 for the line and the internet fee.

I thought it was crazy that they made me get the $30 package for my blackberry in order to even buy the phone, but now they say that every phone they carry except for about 6 must get an xtra $10 package???? I've always liked Verizon, but don't like this at all.

Lori P.

Hey, I live right down the road in Georgia! Yes, it is like adding another line for 20 bucks instead of 10.

Have you ever seen any types of Dismeets in the Chattanooga area? It would be cool to have one.

 

[edk35]

I remember when we got our phones last May.....they said that it is better to get the plan because these types phones are easy to access the internet accidently and when that happens...it adds up very fast. I think that is why we went with it. I know I have grabbed my phone out of my purse and accidently connected to the internet many times.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I remember when we got our phones last May.....they said that it is better to get the plan because these types phones are easy to access the internet accidently and when that happens...it adds up very fast. I think that is why we went with it. I know I have grabbed my phone out of my purse and accidently connected to the internet many times.

I dropped the data plans on my ds phones with Att. They offer a free block so mo worry about accidents
also blocked MIL data

 

[Cibahwewah]

We were paying way too much with Verizon, you have to have the data plan, and for us it just wasn't worth th $60 a month for slow service, and they were completely unhelpful with trying to "downgrade." So we just sucked it up, paid the cancellation fees, and went with tracfone.

 

[edk35]

We were paying way too much with Verizon, you have to have the data plan, and for us it just wasn't worth th $60 a month for slow service, and they were completely unhelpful with trying to "downgrade." So we just sucked it up, paid the cancellation fees, and went with tracfone.

What is a tracfone? Our youngest son starts middle school this fall and I will probably get him a phone but I really don't see adding him to our Verizon acct. He is not going to use it like his older brother and sister. I just want him to have a cell phone since he will no longer be at the school I work at.

 

[Golf4food]

What is a tracfone? Our youngest son starts middle school this fall and I will probably get him a phone but I really don't see adding him to our Verizon acct. He is not going to use it like his older brother and sister. I just want him to have a cell phone since he will no longer be at the school I work at.

Pay as you go, cheap no frills phone, just like they used to be. You can buy the phones and minutes at all sorts of stores. There are other similar programs as well. Go Phone, etc. Check any Wal-Mart, Target, etc. Economical and simple.

 

[bonoriffic]

Cell phone companies and carriers are hurting. They invested billions in their networks and now are faced with the pending upgrades for 4G. As much as you want to believe nobody uses data, the truth is everyone is using data. It is killing the connection. Ask anyone in NYC with an iPhone if their phone drops calls. Any phone that drops less than 25% of their calls is considered good!

Carriers need to invest in next generation services to keep up with demand. That costs billions again.

Cell phone companies realize that nobody wants the cheap phone that is just a phone, and to save costs they use one of a few cell phone operating systems. They all do internet and data, thus every phone needs a data plan. They will still make one or two cheap dumb phones, but aren't interested in them as there is no profit in it.

If you don't like it, welcome to the world of prepaid cellular with crappy phones.

 

[Lisa_M]

Cell phone companies and carriers are hurting. They invested billions in their networks and now are faced with the pending upgrades for 4G. As much as you want to believe nobody uses data, the truth is everyone is using data. It is killing the connection. Ask anyone in NYC with an iPhone if their phone drops calls. Any phone that drops less than 25% of their calls is considered good!

Carriers need to invest in next generation services to keep up with demand. That costs billions again.

Cell phone companies realize that nobody wants the cheap phone that is just a phone, and to save costs they use one of a few cell phone operating systems. They all do internet and data, thus every phone needs a data plan. They will still make one or two cheap dumb phones, but aren't interested in them as there is no profit in it.

If you don't like it, welcome to the world of prepaid cellular with crappy phones.

First off, I can understand and agree with everything you said regarding upgrading systems and paying for them. I'm not sure if this 3G/4G stuff is for real or just some marketing gimmick these companies use.

Anyway, just because a phone isn't a "smart"phone, does not mean it is a dumb phone or a crappy one. Some people like to use a phone how it was intended and not for playing games, texting like mad or getting online.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

I remember when we got our phones last May.....they said that it is better to get the plan because these types phones are easy to access the internet accidently and when that happens...it adds up very fast. I think that is why we went with it. I know I have grabbed my phone out of my purse and accidently connected to the internet many times.

You could just call and they put a block on internet and a couple other things (no charge). I have that on my phone. You can actually do it from your account online. But now you have to pay $10 a month, so why block something you are paying for.

I did NOT want my 14 yr old to have internet access 24/7. SHE did not want it either. But we were forced to pay $10 a month for it. We all have unlimited texting, and that was all we really needed. It is a scam, plain and simple.

 

[poohfriend]

Tmobile also requires data plans with some phones ..but I only asked when I was getting the phone at a special rate.


I really just need a phone to make calls. I now text some...but don't like paying an extra $5 month for a few hundred texts.

 

[maggiew]

Is this retroactive? I have a Palm (no data plan) and the kids & DH have an Alias 2. We have unlimited texting.

Maggie

 

[edk35]

Okay I pulled up my bill online to see exactly what we have. LOL I have the main line so that is 100 bucks for 700 min. unlimited texting for all 3 lines and unlimted data. Those features are included in that 100 bucks. THEN there is a 19.00 plus tax charge on the 2nd and 3rd line which includes the unlimited data for that 19.99. I looked up the plans now and it says you get unlimited data for 29.99 a month and 9.99 for 25 MB a month. SO I guess we are getting a deal for the kids to have it for 10 extra bucks a month. Now if we add our youngest son to the plan....I don't mind him having text but he does not need data. SO maybe it would be the 9.99 plus tax. I need to call them I guess.

 

[edk35]

Okay I called Verizon. So..YES for people that are not getting new plans/phones if you were to add an additional line and you wanted a data plan it cost more than it used to. SO if I walked into Verizon and wanted a main line and an extra line with unlimited data..that extra line would be 9.99 plus 29.99 for THAT EXTRA LINE for that unlimited plan. If I went with the 9.00 data it only gives you 25 MB. She told me that since we have the unlimited for 9.99 if we added an additional line for our son and wanted the data..they would still give us unlimited for 9.99 since the other lines have that already. She said that 25 MB a month is about 25 pages of browsing. She said one You Tube video is approximately 3 MB. She also said that you can get phones that have the keyboard but NO browser so you would not need the data plan. That is probably the route we will go. I don't need my 11 year old middle schooler (this fall) getting on the internet like his 16 year old and 19 year old do.

 

[edk35]

Is this retroactive? I have a Palm (no data plan) and the kids & DH have an Alias 2. We have unlimited texting.

Maggie

I don't think so but you can call and see. I don't think they can change or impose new charges on something you already have.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

About a year and a half ago my mother and I were looking at getting new phones as we were done with T-Mobile (the coverage just wasn't cutting it). So we went to Verizon, looked at the Blackberrys, and were told that all BB's come with a mandatory $30/per month data plan.

We went to AT&T and stuck with them as they had the same phones, and no data plan required. Glad we made that choice...